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Gulf Cooperation Council central banks have lowered key interest rates across the region after the United States Federal Reserve reduced its benchmark rate by 25 basis points. The move marks the Fed’s first rate cut this year, and Gulf economies have quickly aligned their monetary policy to maintain currency pegs, apart from Kuwait, which pegs its dinar to a basket of currencies rather than solely to the dollar.

Saudi Arabia cut its repo rate to 4.75% and its reverse repo rate to 4.25%. The UAE lowered its overnight deposit facility rate to 4.15%. Qatar reduced its deposit, lending, and repo rates each by 25 basis points. Bahrain, Oman, and Kuwait also followed suit with 25 basis point cuts to their key rates.

The rationale driving these moves lies in the Gulf states’ monetary frameworks. Most GCC currencies are pegged to the US dollar, meaning their central banks generally mirror US monetary policy to preserve exchange rate stability. Kuwait stands out as it links its currency to a basket of currencies, weakening the direct link to Fed actions.

Economic analysts note that easing borrowing costs could help stimulate sectors beyond oil, such as real estate, tourism and manufacturing—areas that have strong roles in GCC diversification plans. The UAE expects its non-oil economy to grow by 5.1% this year, while inflation remains modest, easing pressure on rate cuts.

In the United States, the Fed’s decision also signalled expectations of further cuts before the end of the year, setting a stage for global monetary easing. Chair Jerome Powell emphasised that although inflation remains above target, the labour market has weakened enough to justify the cut, but that future reductions will be measured.

/India Press Agency/

By Nitya Chakraborty Prime Minister Narendra Modi has stepped into his 75th year on Wednesday, September 17.His birthday is being celebrated by the BJP nationally. The significance is much more as PM’s 75th birthday celebrations have coincided with the centenary programmes on the founding of the RSS in 1925.On October 2 this year, Vijaya Dasami […]

The article Decoding Prime Minister Narendra Modi As A Political Leader On His 75th Birthday appeared first on Latest India news, analysis and reports on IPA Newspack.

Government officials in New Delhi have unveiled a secure integrated circuit solution, fully developed within India, designed to underpin future digital identity systems including e-passports. All intellectual property is said to reside domestically, marking a significant milestone in the nation’s tech self-sufficiency drive.

The secure IC is embedded with a “smart OS”, enabling secure authentication, encryption, and identity verification. It is intended for deployment in identity credentials issued by federal authorities. Verification features include tamper resistance, cryptographic protection of stored data, and interoperability with global identity verification standards. The OS is modular, allowing updates and extension of features such as biometric modules, NFC, and remote authentication.

The development is part of the broader India Semiconductor Mission and Semicon India Programme, with an investment outlay of ₹76,000 crore supporting chip fabrication, assembly, display fabs, and design projects. The pilot line for this secure chip is being hosted in Gujarat at an OSAT facility.

Sources indicate that ten semiconductor manufacturing projects have been approved across six states—Gujarat, Assam, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Odisha, and Andhra Pradesh—with total investment commitments exceeding ₹1.60 lakh crore. These projects include multiple fabs, ATMP/OSAT facilities, and chip design initiatives.

Among recent achievements is the development of Vikram-3201, a 32-bit space-grade processor by the ISRO Semiconductor Laboratory, presented to the Prime Minister at Semicon India 2025. It has been validated in the PSLV-C60 mission and is said to be robust under extreme launch-vehicle conditions. It was fabricated using a 180 nm CMOS process.

The secure IC is expected to be somewhat different in specifications from Vikram-3201: targeted more towards identity and citizen services rather than space applications. Performance metrics are likely less extreme, but security requirements—such as resistance to physical tampering, side-channel attack mitigation, secure boot, and cryptographic module certification—are being prioritised. Implementation of secure OS standards is underway.

In tandem with hardware development, the government has accelerated IP and design ecosystem support. Under the Design Linked Incentive scheme, 23 design projects have been approved to foster startups, MSMEs, and academic participation. Skill development in VLSI design, packaging, EDA tools, and fab-operations is being emphasised.

Policy observers note that global supply-chain disruptions and geopolitical shifts have provided a backdrop that intensifies India’s push for technological sovereignty. External partnerships—for example in materials, equipment, packaging technologies—are being pursued to fill gaps in the domestic ecosystem.

Challenges remain. Process node maturity is one area—while the 180 nm node is proven and reliable for many applications including space, more advanced nodes dominate consumer electronics and high-performance identity solutions globally. Also, certifications for security standards, supply of trusted materials, secure hardware lifecycle management, and scaling production to volumes needed for national identity issuance will test capacity. Ensuring interoperability with international identity verification frameworks will also be essential.

Curve DAO is considering a proposal to pre-mint 60 million crvUSD to support its new Yield Basis AMM, a mechanism designed to use leveraged Bitcoin pools to eliminate impermanent loss while boosting yield. The crvUSD would be borrowed and paired with BTC in liquidity positions rather than sold on the open market, avoiding direct dilution of circulating stablecoin supply.

Proposed by Curve founder Michael Egorov, Yield Basis is expected to launch with three capped pools, each for BTC wrappers, with deposit limits of about US$10 million per pool. The proposal claims that Yield Basis returns value to both veYB holders and to Curve / veCRV holders through trade-and-fee flows, vote incentives, and other revenue mechanisms.

However, the plan has met with resistance in Curve’s governance forums. Critics warn that pre-minting unbacked crvUSD introduces systemic risk, including potential for unmanageable supply growth, governance overreach, and threats to the peg of crvUSD. One commenter described the risk of minting “out-of-thin-air, unbacked, 60M crvUSD”. Some community members argue the DAO’s current permissions already allow arbitrary minting of crvUSD, a concern in light of past vulnerabilities.

Risk mitigation is a major topic of debate. Suggestions include turning the pre-mint into a strict credit line structure, with per-pool limits, a governance-controlled kill-switch, staged rollout starting with a single BTC wrapper, insurance or first-loss vaults, and better transparency via telemetry dashboards. Yield Basis proponents have responded by noting that the protocol has passed six audits to date, is running a Sherlock bug bounty, and intends to enforce caps at launch. They emphasise that crvUSD in Yield Basis is minted only when BTC is deposited.

Scale and revenue projections form a core of the discussion. The proposal argues that Yield Basis solves what’s known as the demand-side absorption issue for crvUSD: rather than minting tokens that are sold, pairing them internally with BTC leverages LP positions, creating supply sinks and revenue flows. Fee distributions—from arbitrage trades, stablecoin pair pools involving crvUSD, and trading commissions—are structured to benefit veCRV holders, veYB holders, and liquidity providers. The DAO ecosystem is slated to receive a share of YB token inflation for vote incentives in major stablecoin pools.

Stakeholders are closely watching governance dynamics. veCRV voting power is fragmented, voter turnout on high-stakes proposals is variable, and some members say optics could affect market confidence. The precedent set by this mint could influence how future protocol decisions are made.

Prosus NV has raised its holding in Urban Company Ltd to 7.35 per cent, after acquiring roughly an additional 4 percentage points by investing about $139 million, ahead of the home services startup’s Initial Public Offering. This move positions Prosus as one of Urban Company’s largest shareholders and signals strong institutional faith in the firm’s prospects.

Urban Company’s IPO drew overwhelming demand — it was subscribed over 103 times — and its shares listed at a premium of about 57.5 per cent over the issue price on the National Stock Exchange, opening at ₹162.25 versus the ₹103 issue price. The listing surged the company’s market valuation to nearly $2.8 billion.

According to Ashutosh Sharma, head of Prosus India Ecosystem, the firm increased its stake during the IPO allotment. Prosus first backed Urban Company in 2021; this latest acquisition underscores its continued appetite for stakes in Indian startups with domestic consumer and service-led business models.

Urban Company, founded in 2014 by Abhiraj Singh Bhal, Varun Khaitan, and Raghav Chandra, operates across home services such as beauty, cleaning, appliance repair and plumbing. It has expanded into over 50 cities in India and also operates in international markets including UAE and Singapore. The company reported strong financial performance in its fiscal year ending 2025, with revenue growth of around 36 per cent year-on-year and its first net profit of approximately ₹239–₹240 crore.

Investor enthusiasm was evident in the IPO process. Qualified Institutional Buyers led the subscription with particularly strong bids. The grey market premium, which reflects expectations ahead of listing, had risen to over 50 per cent above the issue price, signalling investor confidence in an upward listing trajectory.

Prosus’s move comes amid a broader trend of institutional investors increasing their exposure to Indian startups ahead of IPOs, particularly those in consumer-facing, service-oriented sectors. Earlier urban and tech-led listings have attracted robust demand, and IPOs that show solid unit economics—strong margins, revenue growth, steps toward profit—are being favoured by capital.

Urban Company’s stock market debut saw a steep rise: the shares not only opened with a 57.5 per cent premium on NSE, but trading surged further, reflecting both investor optimism and perceived underpricing in its IPO offer.

Prosus, headquartered in the Netherlands and known for its early stake in Tencent Holdings, has invested over $8-9 billion in the Indian startup ecosystem. It has backed firms such as Swiggy, Meesho, and PayU. Its amplified investment in Urban Company exemplifies a strategy of anchoring bets on firms that combine growth potential with improving financial metrics.

Saudi entities Hassana Investment Company and AviLease have formed a joint venture to offer aircraft-leasing opportunities, signalling a major step in the Kingdom’s drive to build up its aviation financing infrastructure under its National Aviation Strategy. Hassana will own a majority of the new venture; AviLease—backed by the Public Investment Fund—will supply aircraft servicing.

The joint venture’s launch includes a deal to acquire a fleet of ten fuel-efficient, new-technology aircraft from AviLease, all currently leased to carriers based in Saudi Arabia. The portfolio reflects a shift towards greener, more sustainable aviation assets.

Hassana, which manages funds for the General Organization for Social Insurance, sees this as a chance to deepen exposure to resilient asset classes that generate long-term cash flows. Hani Al-Jeha­ni, Acting CEO and CIO of Hassana, emphasised the partnership aligns with its mandate to pursue investments that offer sustainable returns while supporting national aviation goals.

AviLease, established in 2022 as part of the sovereign wealth fund’s expanding portfolio, is expanding rapidly. The company has placed large orders for new Boeing and Airbus aircraft and completed a sizeable financing facility earlier this year. It manages a global portfolio worth several billion dollars. Edward O’Byrne, CEO of AviLease, described the joint venture as foundational to scaling up Saudi Arabia’s aviation ecosystem and creating a platform attractive to both domestic and international investors.

Fahad Al-Saif, Chairman of AviLease, noted that the partnership marks one of the first private-sector-led steps into the aviation financing domain within Saudi Arabia, reinforcing the role of investment institutions in strengthening the sector.

The move supports Saudi Arabia’s ambition to draw 150 million visitors annually by 2030, up from earlier targets, and to enhance the economic multiplier effects of tourism, trade, and transport infrastructure. Aviation financing is seen as a key enabler in achieving these goals, since airlines often face high capital costs.

Beijing is preparing to roll out limited fiscal and monetary support as China faces weakening growth, dimming export demand and a fragile property sector. Analysts expect modest interest-rate cuts and additional spending, but size and scope will be constrained by a heavy debt burden and local government financing risks.

Official data shows industrial output rose 5.2% year-on-year in August, the slowest since August 2024, while retail sales grew just 3.4%, their weakest since November 2024. Fixed-asset investment across the first eight months of the year is up only 0.5%. Economic indicators like rising unemployment and falling home prices underscore growing domestic stress. Export demand, especially to the United States, has softened sharply.

Finance Minister Lan Fo’an has asserted that China’s debt remains at a “controllable and reasonable level,” while promising further fiscal reform to bolster consumption and investment. Hidden local government debt is being addressed, with over 60% of local government financing vehicles having mitigated their undisclosed obligations. Beijing has issued about 4 trillion yuan in special bonds out of a 6 trillion‐yuan quota allocated under its 2024-2026 framework.

Despite these assurances, fiscal options appear limited. Local governments, heavily dependent on land sales and property development for revenue, are seeing income dwindle amid the property slump. Many of them carry large off-balance-sheet debts, which limit their ability to borrow further without risking financial instability. Analysts warn that fiscal expansion beyond existing special bond quotas could trigger credit risk and undermine monetary policy transmission.

Monetary policy tools are seen as more flexible. The central bank is expected to pursue cuts in policy interest rates and perhaps reduced reserve requirement ratios for banks. Some targeted measures, such as support for housing and subsidised consumer loans, are under discussion. But reliance on monetary easing brings its own challenges—lower rates may offer limited stimulus when private sector demand is weak and households are wary of debt.

The property sector remains a key drag on growth. Unsold homes, delayed or incomplete projects, and tightly controlled borrowing rules for developers all erode confidence and investment. Local governments, deprived of revenue from land sales due to the real-estate slowdown, face pressures both to stabilize the housing market and to reduce their contingent liabilities.